Hat-stiffening machine.



Patented Sebt. 2, 1902.

N. LEVEQUE. HAT-STIFFENING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 26 1902.) (No Model.)

WITNESSIl QS I X ATTORNEY UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHANAEL LEVEQUE, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF TO JAMES MARSHALL AND BROTHERS, OF FALL RIVER, MAS- SACHUSETTS.

HAT-STIFFENING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 708,054, dated September 2, 1902.

Application filed April 26, 1902.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NATHANAELYLEVEQUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hat-Stifieniug Machines,

of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more especially to the removal of the surplus stiffening material af- IO ter it has been applied to the hat-body by the machine and is a-useful appendage thereto rather than an improvement in the machine proper.

Hat-stiffening machines in general useare provided with a pair of cone-rollers arranged to roll in such vertical relation to each other as to leave a vertical opening between them, with the outer vertical faces standing on an inclination. These rolls are adjustable to any proximity of their parallel faces. Upon their surfaces the stiffening material is fed and between their parallel faces the hat-body is revolved, taking up the stiffening material as it passes between them. It is a matterof judgment what pressure to apply to the hatbody passing between the rolls. If too much pressure is applied, the feltxbodybecomes too dense to properly absorb the stiifening material. If light pressure is applied, the 0 stiffening is better absorbed, but the pressure being weak a certain amount remains upon the surface in clots or streaky deposits that render the stiffening when dry uneven and unsatisfactory. This is especially no- 3 5 ticeable at the top of the rolls, where the surplus stifiening being squeezed upward by the action of the rolls against the hat-body is deposited in a ridge all around the face of the hat-body and unless removed while soft dries 4c in a hard bead upon it, causing much injury; The object ofrmy invention is to obviate this difficulty by supplying'a device which removes the surplus stiffening just as the hatbody leaves the rolls. This I accomplish in the manner herein described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which like figures relate to like parts.

Figure 1 is a face view of a section of a hatbrim-stiffening machine provided with my im- 5o provement. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view' of the cone-rollers through line no of Fig. 1 with my improvement in section. Figs. 3, 4,

Serial N.104.s79. (No model.)

' 5, and 6 are enlarged vertical and horizontal views of the improvement proper detached.

In Fig. l I show a pair of truncated conerolls 1 and 2, operating on an incline, so that one perpendicular face of each roll is parallel with the other, leaving a perpendicular opening between them, made adjustableby moving one roll to or from the other. The rolls are arranged over a drip -pan 3, having a waste-outlet 4. The rolls are supplied with stiffening material from an adjacent elevated pan 5 through a supply-pipe 6, which terminates in two upright pipes 7 and 8, each provided with a discharge-opening 9 and 10,which spread the stiffening material upon the cones. The cone-shafts 11 12 pass down through orifices 13 14 in the pan and are operated by a mechanism arranged below the table 15,which is not shown, as it is well known and is not in any way affected by my improvement.

A hat-body 16 (shown in section) is dropped over a supporting-cone 17, arranged so that one of its sides is also perpendicular to the opening between the cones, thus permitting the hat-body to'be easily dropped between them. It will be seen that when the hat-body is in position and the conessupplied with stiffening ma terial are revolved inwardly they will carry the hat-body along,at the same time distributing a layer of the stiffening material upon each side of that part of it contacting with the cones. It is desirable that the stifiening shall also penetrate through the felt and not be only deposited upon the surface. Using pressure between the cones has a tendency to force it in, but at the same time makes the felt too dense to freely absorb it, while if pressure is not used the deposit on the surface of the felt is apt to be uneven and streaky. It is here that my improvement comes into use. It consists of a scraper-bar made, preferably,of fiat spring-steel,so as to be resilient, bent as shown in Figs.'3, 4, 5, and 6, having an upper supportingearm 20, slotted, as at 21, through which it issecured to the arms of the machine 22 by the screw23,and a downward perpendicular arm 24, placed as shown in section Fig. 2. In Fig. l this appendage is shown attached to the head of the arms 22, around which it is curved, and it is made adjustable as to position by means of the slot and screw shown. The scraper-bar may be used both outside and inside the hat-body, together or separately, and its efiect is to remove all surplus deposit of the stiffening material, While leaving the felt spongy enough to absorb it as it passes between the rolls.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination in a hat-stiffening machine, of a pair of vertically-mounted rolls, means for applying stiffening material to a hat-body, of an adjustable scraper-bar supported from a fixed part of the machine adjacent to the top of one of the rolls, said scraper-bar contacting with the hat-body to remove the surplus stiffening deposited upon the hat-body from the top downwardly, substantially as described and shown.

2. The combination in a hat-stiffening ma chine, of a pair of vertically-mounted rolls,

means for applying stiffening material to a 

